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Welcome! I'm Melissa Gross, a dynamic and interactive teacher and speaker called to lead and encourage Christian women in their walk with the Lord through classes, workshops and retreats incorporating Bible study, devotionals, illustrated Bible journaling, paper crafting and mixed media projects that merge faith and art bringing God’s Word to life so you can find renewed excitement to dive into the Word, use your creative gifts, and apply the Truth as you draw closer to the Lord and serve Him in your everyday life. This site is where I share my everyday adventures, Bible Journaling pages, scrapbook layouts, handmade cards, and other crafty projects, as well as information on my upcoming workshops and events. I also post photos, ramble about books I'm reading, stuff I'm organizing, and other FUN bits & pieces of my wonderful life.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Bowling for Grandmas

My first trip abroad – I was so excited because now I was going to be a world traveler. I was accompanying Robbie on a business trip and we were going to not one, not two, but three different countries! First stop was Moscow, Russia, then on to enjoy Gardone Riviera in Italy, and finally a few days in London, England. (Here's the intro page I created for my scrapbook.)

After a ten hour flight from Dallas to London, we landed at Gatwick Airport. We stood in line for almost two hours to get through customs. Then we had an hour long bus drive to London Heathrow Airport. I get a little carsick sometimes, but riding on a bus on the “wrong” side of the road and looking down at the car next to us with no driver in the “driver’s” seat was like getting car sick in the Twilight Zone. Not to mention that there are no stop signs, just those round abouts everywhere! It was so bad that I pulled a plastic bag out of my laptop case just in case . . . that really made Robbie nervous. Luckily, we arrived at our destination without me having to use the bag! We retrieved our luggage and headed into the airport.

We couldn’t find the elevator at London Heathrow Airport and decided to take the escalator down to the concourse. We had done this before and of course now I was a world traveler. We were both pulling two suitcases on wheels with a laptop bag on top of one. I pushed my smaller suitcase onto the escalator, stepped onto the next step, and turned to pull the big suitcase onto the step behind me . . . while at the same time letting go of my smaller suitcase. I turned around just in time to see it tumbling down the escalator toward an elderly lady (the only other person on the escalator).

I yelled out “Ma’am, Ma’am” and she turned around in time to stop the suitcase and rode off the bottom of the escalator backwards, falling down hard, legs in the air, arms flaying about! (Now I wasn’t feeling so good about being a world traveler, it was more like a country-comes-to-the-city show.) I couldn’t get down the escalator to help her as I was still holding on to the big suitcase – the escalator seemed to be going in slow motion and I just kept saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" in my nice Texas accent.

She was up and said she was OK by the time we arrived at the bottom. I apologized several times and gave her a hug. She was very gracious about the incident. I felt absolutely terrible and was practically in tears as we started pulling our luggage down the hallway to our terminal. (I wonder if God was trying to teach me a little humility here since I was a little arrogant about being a world traveler.)

Robbie however was able to see the humor in the incident. He said, “Wow, a strike on your first try! It’s a new game – bowling for Grandmas.” Well, I guess it would have been a Grandmum, right? (God does have a sense of humor after all.)

This post was inspired by Sian's Storytelling Sunday, a fun monthly event where bloggers around the world share a tale or two.

Glad she was OK and hope the rest of your journey was less stressful! It was really interesting to read your first impressions of the (driverless) traffic - it IS disorientating isn't it! Lovely tale TFS

Melissa, what a great story! (And a superb title, thanks Robbie). What I love about the storytelling is the chance to get to know the teller a little more too - now I know some of the cool places you have been!

Hi Melissa! Just catching up on STS :) Loved your story, so well told! I'm a bit afraid of escalators as I took a nasty fall once in front of a theatre full of people waiting in line... It wasn't pretty, but now I find I hesitate every time I approach the down escalator!! P.s. Love the title...(great job Robbie:)

Hey Melissa, I'm having a catch-up session, so dropped by to read your STS story. Poor little granny-lady! I think next time, you should ask someone "Excuse me please, where is the lift?" (that's the elevator in England!). And we do have "Grandma's" in England - my mother is a Grandma (and a Great-Grandma too!). I'm not sure what she would make of "Grandmum"!

Oh my gosh, I'm sorry but I did laugh out loud at your description of the old woman, legs in the air. And Robbie's comment sent me over the edge. Good that you can look at it now and chuckle???!!! And look at the fun and descriptive story you have to tell! :)